TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S DR. TALBOT'S QUESTION BOX
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The beloved President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles an s we r s your Bible Questions.
demption; salvation by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; His bodily resurrection. According to this cult, sin, sickness, and death are the unrealities of human conclusions; man is spiritual and co-existent with God; and if we live after death, we must have lived before birth. Mrs. Eddy denied the personality, even the existence, of Satan. She taught that the sea repre sents God, and that Christ is as one drop of water in the sea. In dine with Pantheism, she taught that all that is good is God, and God is all good. Inasmuch as there are multitudes of redeemed sinners who, spiritually speaking, do not know their right hands from their left, there are un doubtedly some of them that have been caught in this Satanic delusion, and still have enough faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus to be saved. But no one can be an in telligent Christian — intelligent con cerning the- plain teaching of the Bible—and- accept and f o l l o w the teachings of Christian Science. No one can be saved who believes the teach ings of Christian Science. ^ QUE.: What do you under stand the Scriptures to teach in regard to the mode of baptism? Romans 6:4 teaches that baptism is a symbol of our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” When a believer submits him self to baptism, he is proclaiming his faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the means by which he is saved. As to the mode, John 3:23,as well as other passages, gives us some light. There we read: “And John also was baptizing in AEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there.” There is no doubt that John baptized by immersion, else there would have been no need of “much water.” The word “ baptize” means to “ dip” or “plunge” ; and that can be performed only, where there is “much water.” Acts 8:36-38 is another passage that suggests “much water” : “And as they went on their way, they came unto
a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the e u n u c h ; and he baptized him.” I could sprinkle a hundred people with a cupful of water, and it would not be necessary to “go dowri into the water” to do that. Immersion certain ly sets forth beautifully the great truths b a p t i s m illustrates—death, burial, and resurrection. However, we must ever bear in mind that water baptism has n o t h i n g to do with salvation. The only water baptism known to Scripture is the immersion of a person after he has already be lieved unto salvation. ^ QUE.: How can you harmon ize the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible with such a glaring mistake as that in Matthew 27 :9, 10, which reads: “ Then was ful filled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of sil ver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.” If you turn to the Old Testament, you will find that this quotation is found in Zecha- riah 11:12, 13, and not in Jere miah. Does this not prove that Matthew erred? Not 'at all. It rather p r o v e s the Inerrancy of the Bible. If you read the language of Matthew carefully, you will note that Matthew does not say that Jeremiah wrote the statement, but that he "spake” it. Zechariah wrote it, to be sure; but the Holy Spirit knew what the prophets spake, as well as what they wrote. There is another illustration of this in Jude 14, which records a hitherto unrecorded utterance of Enoch. But the Holy Spirit knew what Enoch had prophesied; and He used it at His appointed time, as a w a r n in g to apostates of judgment to come upon the ungodly.
^ QUE. : If salvation is all of grace, and works play no part in our redemption, then why do we read in Revelation 22:14, “ Blessed are they that do his command ments, that they may have right to thé tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” ? Read this v e r s e in the Revised Version, and you will have your an swer: “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city." Works do not give the right to the tree of life. It is the g r a c e of God that cleanses “our robes” in “the blood of the Lamb of Calvary.” And'every be liever on the Lord Jesus Christ has right to the tree of life only on the ground of His finished redemption. ^ ■ QUE. : Are Christian Scien tists Christian? Christian Science is the religion of Mrs. Mary Baker Glover-Patterson- Eddy. The textbook is “Science and Health” with a “Key to the Scriptures.” In that textbook Mrs, Eddy claims that she discovered this religion in 1866, and gave it the n a m e “Christian Science.” She had been a disciple of Mr. Quinby of Portland, Maine, who had received instruction from Mesmer., Mr. Quinby practiced what is, known as Mesmerism. Mrs. Eddy was also associated with Mrs. Annie Lee, who was a teacher of Shakerism. Chris tian Science is a mixture of Pan theism, Uni t ari ani sm, Quinbyism, Shakerism, Theosophy, and some other things. It is n e i t h e r scientific nor Christian. Mrs. Eddy claimed that her religion, or “science,” agreed with the Bible. Yet in her writings she called God the Father “ a principle” ; Christ the Son “an idea” ; and the Holy Spirit "divine science.” Her teachings deny the Bible story of creation and re
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